Barack Obama calls for more redistribution of wealth to America's working poor

President Barack Obama on Wednesday night called for more redistribution of
wealth to America's working poor, as part of an unapologetic plan to use
government activism to revive the US economy in his second term.

In his address, Mr Obama made a vigorous call for more investment in America's education system and crumbling infrastructure.Photo: GETTY

After delivering his first State of the Union address since winning re-election, Mr Obama pledged to restore the country's "basic bargain", starting with an almost 25 per cent rise in the minimum wage.

"Corporate profits have skyrocketed to an all-time high," Mr Obama said in a speech in North Carolina. "But it's also true that for more than a decade, wages and incomes haven't gone up at all."

Noting that a minimum-wage American worker makes $14,500 (£9,329) a year, Mr Obama added: "If you work full-time, you shouldn't be in poverty".

The proposal was part of an ambitious second-term domestic agenda laid out hours earlier by the president in his annual remarks to the US Congress, which remains sharply divided along political lines.

It was swiftly dismissed by John Boehner, the Speaker of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, whose party rejected Mr Obama's remarks as a blueprint for more "big government" rather than free enterprise.

"A lot of people who are being paid the minimum wage are being paid that because they come to the workforce with no skills," said Mr Boehner yesterday. "This makes it harder for them to acquire the skills they need in order to climb the ladder successfully."

In his address, Mr Obama made a vigorous call for more investment in America's education system and crumbling infrastructure, rejecting Republican plans to slash public spending during a fragile economic recovery.

He offered "modest reforms" to reduce spending on expensive benefit schemes for the elderly and the poor that are scheduled to further increase America's $16 trillion national debt in the coming years.

"Most Americans – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents – understand that we can't just cut our way to prosperity," he said, urging Congress to set aside partisanship to replace "reckless cuts with smart savings and wise investments in our future".

In front of high-profile victims of gun violence, including former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Mr Obama made an impassioned call for new firearms regulations, repeating that those killed in recent massacres "deserve a vote" on all his plans, even if some are unlikely to be approved by Congress.

"If you want to vote no, that's your choice. But these proposals deserve a vote," he said, noting that in the two months since the massacre at a primary school in Connecticut, "more than a thousand birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun".

In remarks notably light on foreign policy, Mr Obama indicated that he had no intention of abandoning his ultra-cautious approach to assisting the rebel forces in Syria.

He repeated that Iran would not be allowed to develop a nuclear bomb, scolded North Korea for its nuclear test this week and promised to work for peace in the Middle East during a visit in the Spring.